by Lynn Hobbs How often have you started reading a book and quickly figured out what would happen next? Ho-hum…how boring. Interest is lost, yes, but any reader will notice a predictable pattern after several similar books by the same author. Some refer to these as cookie cutter books. The villain is introduced on page six. Female doesn’t like the …
Real Civil War Spies
by Mary Ellis While researching my latest romance, The Lady and the Officer, I discovered several real-life spies whose lives provided plenty of inspiration. Probably the most famous Confederate spy was Belle Boyd. At 17, Belle was arrested for shooting a Union soldier who had broken into the family’s home. Though Union officers cleared her of all charges, they watched …
Are You Imprisoned?
By Donna K. Rice In Ephesians 3:1, Paul describes himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles. Paul was Jesus’ prisoner. The Apostle proclaimed himself void of options in career pursuits. His love for Jesus bound Paul to his calling as securely as if ropes bound his hands and feet. Paul understood his purpose, too. He was to …
Permission to Noodle
by Anne Mateer Confession time. For all my aversion to math, I thrive on measurable productivity. A number of words written. A number of pages revised. The number of books read in a week, month or year. The amount of time spent research-or even cleaning house or running errands. It all signals productivity. A worthwhile expenditure of time. And yet, …
Genetics-Based Grammarianism
By Michelle Arch In a world of tweeting, texting, chattering, status updates, desktop messaging, flash fiction, and the ubiquitous shrunken novel, rhetoric and the art of epic articulation, sadly, are no longer appreciated and extolled. Murky millennial jargon and cryptic acronyms have replaced the precision of entire phrases and sentences, leaving some of us to wonder if the writer is …
Research Surprises
by Susan Lyttek One of the first things I do when I get an idea for a story is research. I enjoy the process. More often than not, its results surprise me, taking the story in a different direction or changing the focus. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I often approach a book project with preconceived …
Motivation’s the Key
By Ane Mulligan Back on April 4th, I blogged about the 8 basic lies people believe. It can be as innocent as an ever-tired, exasperated mother wiping up yet another spilled glass of milk. “Can’t you do anything right?” If the recipient of that rebuke is under the age of five, he believes it. After all, that’s his mother who …
Perseverance
By Loretta Eidson To win a race requires planning ahead, seeking out appropriate training methods, pacing yourself, and pressing toward the goal. It takes an inner drive to jump the hurdles of daily obstacles in order to build muscle and stamina. The dream of winning is exciting. But let’s face it—not everyone looks forward to the time and effort it …
Playing it Safe
Playing it Safe By Katherine Reay Working on my third manuscript seems to be an exercise in conquering fear. Someone told me that my second would be the most difficult, but now that it’s behind me – and it will be to you in October – this third one has me in knots. Now it maybe because the process is …
Define Success
By Jennifer Sienes I am not a published author. Let me repeat that-I am not a published author. Okay, technically, I suppose that’s not true. I’ve had some short stories and an article published. But since the majority of my time is spent on novel writing, that’s truly where my heart is. And it’s taken me quite some time (six …